NFL Slaughters NBA In Christmas Day Ratings
On Monday, the NFL and NBA competed head-to-head for the second straight Christmas Day. The NBA lost badly.
Again.
Even worse than last year.
Here are the ratings for the NFL:
Chiefs-Raiders, CBS: 31 million viewers.
Giants-Eagles, Fox: 29 million
Ravens-49ers, ABC: 28 million.
Here are the ratings for the NBA:
Knicks-Bucks, ESPN: 2.5 million
Warriors-Nuggets, ESPN/ABC: 4.1 million
Lakers-Celtics ESPN/ABC: 5 million
Heat-Sixers, ESPN: 1.3 million
Mavs-Suns, ESPN: 1.5 million.
The NFL drew 5 times the viewers as the NBA last Christmas. This year, the NFL 10-timed the NBA.
For context, the primetime ESPN window (Heat-Sixers) declined 73 percent year-over-year. The marquee "LeBron game" dropped 18 percent.
Christmas Day used to be the one day on the calendar on which NBA basketball was a tradition. That is the case no more.
Christmas Day now belongs to the NFL. At least when it wants to play on Christmas. The league claims it will not schedule games next Christmas, when December 25 falls on a Wednesday.
We'll see if that holds true.
Ultimately, the ratings on Christmas further confirm a column we posted earlier this week about how the NFL has widened its lead over the NBA.
We documented how ESPN had pushed a narrative in 2018 that the NBA was about to catch the NFL.
Unfortunately, the following pundits have stopped comparing the two leagues:
New York Post sports reporter Ryan Glasspiegel discussed the previous coverage of the NBA versus NFL, on X, following the Christmas Day slaughter:
"Here’s the thing. NBA die hards have a right to be like 'OK the NFL is more popular, so what, who cares?'
"The problem is, there was a time in the not-too-distant past when NBA fans relished the competition ... the idea that there was never a measuring stick in the proverbial conversation is not true."
The NBA is not about to shut off its lights. But the NBA is a league in decline, for both political and on-the-court reasons.
Simply put,
The NBA is closer to professional wrestling -- which it also trails -- in viewership than it is to the NFL.
The NBA Was Never Going To Catch The NFL In Popularity | Bobby Burack